For the past two years, Rob Hennigan has built a team in kind of a strange way.
His Dwight Howard trade — the foundation for everything that was to come next whether he liked it or not — netted the team a mix of young players like Nikola Vucevic and Maurice Harkless and some veterans like Arron Afflalo. It was going to take a year, maybe two, to tear everything down and build the beginnings of the team.
In that time, Hennigan has found some gems. He mined Kyle O’Quinn out of the draft and grabbed Tobias Harris for J.J. Redick, likely leaving in free agency anyway. Harkless and Vucevic turned into solid pick-ups and building blocks. He drafted Victor Oladipo with the second pick in the 2013 Draft and he put in a consistent and even rookie year that could have easily won him the Rookie of the Year award.
Through it all, there was always something of an emphasis in keeping the right leadership in the locker room. Rob Hennigan constantly and consistently said he wanted to keep a balance of veterans and young guys. Now that the Magic are turning things over to the young players a bit more, that veteran presence is less important on the court.
The Magic, though, still believe they need that positive influence from more experienced players.
The veterans on the Magic’s roster will have to supplement and support what comes from the coaching staff.
“I think where we are at right now, bringing the right people in the locker room is one of the most important things when you are talking about team chemistry,” Jacque Vaughn said. “The vets on our team — Channing Frye, Willie Green, Luke Ridnour, Ben Gordon — these are guys who have played on multiple teams and have been on different settings and understand the importance of earning minutes on a basketball team. That is going to be an important message for our guys in the locker room right now.”
They may be more complimentary pieces now than the veterans were with Nelson and Afflalo and Davis demanding the ball more, but that does not mean their roles are any less important. The Magic average age this year is younger than it was last year and there are going to be growing pains as Victor Oladipo and Nikola Vucevic take control of this team more.
The veterans are the ones coming into the program and have their own growing to come as they learn how to play with the players currently on the roster.
Their main, and key, role is to be mentors in the locker room and keep a positive atmosphere in the locker room. On the floor, their role is to support and, maybe, stay out of the way unless winning calls for them to do something else (to be sure though, the Magic appear to be putting the responsibility of results and winning on the young guys that will be part of the team’s long-term future).
So far, it seems the initial impressions these veterans have of the Magic’s core is a good one. Things appear to be headed in a generally good direction.
“They have been in here working hard,” Ben Gordon said after he signed his contract with the Magic. “I saw that was evident right away, getting in the court and getting in the weight room with them. The thing that struck me right away is these guys really love the game and they work really hard. For a young group of talented players, that’s always the main ingredient. They are all really professionally. I can’t stress this enough they all work hard and they all have that edge. They didn’t want to see what happened last season happen again. Everybody’s head is in the right place, and I’m looking forward playing with these guys.”
Willie Green in his initial impressions of the Magic’s young core in his visits to Orlando during the summer saw the players already had the work ethic and the professionalism. His job as a veteran is to reinforce what management and the coaching staff want through their leadership.
For a career role player like Green, it took veterans teaching him how to work and find a way and a role on any team was something he passes on very seriously to role player and star alike. It is no coincidence Green has had an 11-year career in this league.
“I think all of the guys that are blessed to be able to play 10-plus years in this league, it took other veterans and guys wrapping their arms around them and showing them the ropes for them to be successful,” Green said. “As far as the young guys here, they are already hard workers. We know that from playing them. The base is there. It’s just about continuing to surround young players with good people, good players. Guys have the same goals.”
This year is about building off that base for sure.
With many of the Magic veterans of the past gone. New players will have to step into leadership roles.
The talk from the Magic has long been about playing meaningful games later in the season this year. That seems to be a goal for the franchise. Everyone at this point is going to say they expect to be in the thick of things in the Eastern Conference. This is another thing a player like Green or Gordon can provide. They can set the right approach as the team finds whatever measure of success they find.
For Green, who played with the Clippers last year, it was not about focusing on the Playoffs or the standings, but focusing on getting better every game and carrying over what they learned to the next game.
With such a young roster, there are still going to be mistakes made. The Magic are not going to execute perfectly all the time. Players are going to have to grow into roles and gel as a team. Very few of these young players have been part of a winning team in the NBA. There is going to be some trials to get through.
The Magic’s new veterans will be doing their best to help the young players get through the learning process, stay poised and share their experiences when the time comes. It is the thought processes and preparations they will have to share when the time comes.
For now, the young players have done what they can to prepare themselves and focus in for the start of training camp. Ultimately, everything is in their hands.
“All the guys look very good,” Vucevic said. “A lot of guys got better. Now it’s all about us doing the hard work in training camp and making sure we’re focused and try to get better every day. That’s all we can do. We can’t look in advance. Our focus shoudl be to go day by day and get better, work as a team. That’s going to be our main strength. We don’t have that one superstar player. We have to work as a team, that has to be our main strength on both ends of the court.”